"Still lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;
And reigns the winter's pregnant silence still;
No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,
And willow stems grow daily red and bright.
These are days when ancients held a rite
Of expiation for the old year's ill,
And prayer to purify the new year's will."
Helen Hunt Jackson, A Calendar of Sonnet's: February

Don't forget to check the calendar(s) for session times. Sessions are held on different platforms, so be sure to find out where the session will take place:-

What is your favourite genre of books?

When you're learning English, the best thing to do is simply to start reading the books that are in the language, as it means that you can learn new words and phrases very quickly. But, what is your favourite genre? "Genre" means "category" - so what type of book do you like the best? Romance? Adventure? Mystery?

Personally, I like romance books with happy endings as it makes me appreciate what I have in my life even more.

> @mheredge said:
> I like non-fiction about politics/history and travel. When I'm reading fiction, I like the old classics but I'm quite partial to bestselling thrillers too.

That's interesting. Are there any specific branches of history that you're interested in reading about? Personally, I like to read about the first and second world war, but more specifically how those left at home coped with the situation. I have always found that fascinating, but I'm not entirely sure why.

I've always been fascinated by twentieth century history and oral history. I suppose I had my father to blame there, as he used to relate fascinating stories about his experiences during the Second World War. Charles Allen is one of my favourite authors as most of his books are accounts of history gleaned from witness accounts.

Yesterday I downloaded a couple of books onto my Kindle: Hiroshima by John Hersey, a journalist who related stories of the residents shortly after the event, in 1946.

Then I also got Tim Cope's travel account On the Trail of Genghis Khan.

I like romantic suspense series.
I need both romance and suspense when I read books.
Whenever I read books which were translated into my native language, I wanted to feel directly without translation what writers wrote. Then I decided to read books in English. This is one of the reasons for me to study English.

> @mheredge said:
> When I was a kid I liked science fiction, but I think I outgrew it. The sci-Fi I read was more like the old classics: The Day of the Triffids, 1984, and books by H G Wells and Jules Verne.

Yes, I have read one or two books from this genre and have enjoyed them quite a lot. I don't get as much time to read as I would like, though, as I am quite busy these days, but at the weekends I do sometimes manage to just sit and read a book, which is nice. I won't get chance to read this weekend because I am busy, but perhaps I will the weekend after that.

I'm giving a Steven King novel a second chance, as first go I couldn't get into it. He writes in the present tense and then slips into the past tense, which is a way of writing I don't really like so much. But the attention to detail and descriptions are really vivid, even if at the moment the story is still not clear.

I had a great uncle who used to read all of his books, but I'm with you in that I just find them too difficult to follow, which is a shame. I do like books from that general genre, but his just aren't for me really, which is a shame.

There are people who don't have specific choices when it comes to reading. One of my friends reads newspaper in the morning, then novel, then a history book and before going to bed, she has other stuff too. She has divided time for different types of books. to keep herself busy at home.

I like the thought of doing that too bubbli, because I can often get a little bit bored just reading one thing at any one time. I can never read more than one fiction book at the same time though, because I get confused about what I have read in one book and which was from another.

I will admit that I do enjoy a little bit of adventure and mystery from time to time. It is the type of book that you can really get into, and this means that I enjoy the storylines in them. It is this genre that most makes me want to stay up and read all through the night to finish and get to the end.

I do enjoy trashy reading when I'm on holiday, because it means that there's a book that you can read without having to concentrate too much on the story. Plus, you can almost be certain that they're going to have a happy ending, and that's exactly what you need when you're on holiday.

I agree with you on your point @Hilandrius and think that reading is great for being able to come up with images in your head, so that's wonderful. I think that a lot of creative people read a lot, and this means that you can get lots of new ideas from the books that you read.

I agree about true stories @snack98 and it can be amazing to read about the things that people have been through in their lives and been able to overcome. I love reading true stories and learning lessons from them.

@GemmaRowlands I used to like reading many kinds of book. Recently, I have mainly read anything into English. My English ability still limits, so sometimes I do not understand nothing. Others read English quickly, whereas I spend much time on reading one page. Sometimes, I really get rid of learning English. Why is the language hard to me? Am I really an idiot? Reading English drives me crazy.

@Lien you are most certainly not an idiot. It might help to find some more simple books - such as books written for children - as the words are easier to understand. Then you can build up to longer and more complicated books. You would improve quickly, and would soon be able to read books that you never thought you could manage.

I love travel books (what a surprise!). Right now I'm reading an account of an Australian who rode from Mongolia to Europe on a horse to see how nomads were living and to follow Genghis Khan's route of hundreds of years ago.